1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of spin-stabilized subcaliber projectiles including a core integral with a sabot and with a sleeve.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such projectiles include a core of a dense material such as tungsten, which is made integral in rotation with a sabot of the gun caliber size. The sabot carries a seal band which takes hold in the gun barrel rifling and imparts the rotation to the core as the projectile travels through the barrel. The sleeve is integral with the sabot and surrounds the core. The function of the sleeve is to secure the core radially and axially, if need be, relative to the sabot.
French patent FR2131393 describes a projectile of this type in which the plastic sleeve is molded over the sabot and core, and includes six regularly distributed fracture initiators, arranged axially.
The band here is integral with the sleeve, to reduce the weight of the sabot and make the projectile easier to manufacture, as only one overmolding operation is needed.
The sabot and core are integrated axially by clips on the sabot, which fit into the groove arranged on the rear part of the core.
However, the difficulty there is in perfecting such a sleeve-sabot joint is due to the necessary compromise between the resistance of the joint to the stresses of firing, while it must be sufficiently fragile to release the core rapidly when exiting from the gun muzzle.
Any mistake may result in the sleeve breaking inside the tube, with the risk of this break propagating to the band and thereby allowing a gas leakage which is harmful to the later ballistics of the projectile.
And yet reinforcing the thickness of the sleeve in the area where it joins with the part constituing the band runs the risk of hindering the separation of the sleeve and sabot, and thereby the release of the core.
The purpose of the invention is to propose a subcaliber projectile that will remedy these disadavantages.